Tamil Nadu: All jails to have armed guards, ordered to open fire to thwart escape bid

CHENNAI: Following the jail break in Theni, the Prison Department has decided to deploy armed guards in all Central and district jails from Wednesday onwards, said Prison and Correctional Services chief DGP Sandeep Rai Rathore.

“The watch towers will have armed deployment and the officials deployed there will be instructed to shoot at sight if there is any kind of escape attempt," DGP Rathore told DT Next. As per the existing practice, the guards on watch towers in most prisons in Tamil Nadu do not carry guns.

All prisons will also have working alarms. All other additional security measures will be implemented once the security audit is completed and a revised standard operating procedure is put in place, he added.

Disclosing that there were security lapses on Monday night at Theni district jail, from where 17 inmates escaped, the senior officer noted that the jail staff took the alert of a medical emergency in good faith.

When they unlocked three gates and rushed inside to attend to what they believed was a genuine health issue, the staff failed to lock the gates from inside. “That was a major deviation from the protocol. The inmates used the situation in their favour and escaped after attacking the jail guards," an officer said.